Dock line system

ABSTRACT

A dock line system for securing a vehicle or vessel to a structure has a secondary release when a first coupling member cannot be released from a main body of the system. The secondary release is selectively attached to the main body. When the secondary release is utilized, a second coupling member is detached from the main body allowing a user control of the vehicle or vessel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to provisional patentapplication 63/350,975 which was filed on Jun. 10, 2022, and is herebyexpressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Systems for securing a vehicle or vessel to a dock or other structureare common on the water. The current state of the art utilizes a ratchetsystem that can be overwhelmed and lead to the locking of the ratchetsystem. When the ratchet system is locked, the ropes associated withsuch systems cannot be detached from the structure.

It is therefore an object of the invention to have a dock line systemthat can easily be undone when the ratchet system locks up.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The dock line system is preferably utilized to interact with ropes butcan accommodate other types of connecting devices such as cables. Thesystem can include ropes in numerous sizes, with the preferredembodiments having ¼″, ⅜″, ½″, and 1″ rope sizes. Most generally theropes are from 5′ to 15′ length, but can be made in any lengthrequested. The rope itself is preferably double braided nylon and comesin many colors.

A ¼″ ratchet system has a max load of 100 lbs. The ⅜″ ratchet system hasa max load of 250 lbs. The ½″ ratchet system has a max load of 550 lbs.Most ropes are equal to or above the max load limit of the ratchets.Plastic or metal rope clamps can be utilized to make rope eyelets.Eyelets can also be sewn.

All the rope clamps hold more than the max load of its respective ropesize.

A secondary release is preferably a wire lock pin (emergency release)that can be pulled out by a user. In the event that there is too muchtension on the ratchet where the ratchet will not release using thelever.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a dock line system;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a secondary release;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the ratcheting system and the secondaryrelease;

FIG. 4 is a back view of the secondary release;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second embodiment wherein thesecondary release is shown attached to the main body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Now referring to FIGS. 1-4 , a first embodiment of a dock line system 10is shown. The system 10 comprises a first coupling member 20, a secondcoupling member 30, and a main body 40. The first coupling member 20 hasa first end 22 and a second end 24. The second end 24 can be connectedto a first vehicle or a first structure. The second coupling member 30is to be connected to the first vehicle or the first structure,whichever one is not connected to the first coupling member 20. Aportion of the first connecting member 20 and a portion of the secondconnecting member 30 are selectively attached to the main body 40. Aseries of clamps 26, 32, and 34 can be used to make loops with the firstcoupling member 20 and/or the second coupling member 30.

The main body 40 as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a ratcheting system44 that holds the first coupling member 20 in a particular position. Thefirst coupling member 20 can be detached from the ratcheting system 44via a lever 42. Once the first coupling member 20 is detached from theratcheting system 44, the first coupling member 20 can be also detachedor separated from the main body 40.

At times, the tension between the first coupling member 20 and theratcheting system 44 are such that a user cannot generate enough forceto manipulate the lever 42 to release the first coupling member 20 fromthe ratcheting system 44 and main body 40. A secondary release 50 isselectively attachable to the main body 40 and the second couplingmember 30. The secondary release 50 is preferably a wire lock pin. Thesecondary release 50 has a first end 52 and a second end 55. Thesecondary release 50 further comprises a connection member 56. Theconnection member 56 attaches to the first end 52 while the connectionmember 56 is selectively attaches to the second end 55.

In use, a user can pull on the first end 52 which forces the connectionmember 58 to come off the second end 55 of the secondary release 50. Thesecondary release can be used if the ratchet system 44 becomes lockedfor a variety of reasons. Once the secondary release 50 is removed, thesecond coupling member 30 is no longer connected to the main body 40.

A second embodiment of a dock line system 210 is shown in FIGS. 5-7 .The dock line system 210 has the same components of the dock line system10 described above and the part numbers in FIGS. 5-7 correspond to thepart numbers in FIGS. 1-4 . Additionally, the mechanisms for use of thesecond embodiment are the same as the embodiment described above inFIGS. 1-4 .

The second embodiment of the dock line system 210 utilizes an additionalpart, a securing member 60 that connects the main body 40 to thesecondary release 50. FIGS. 5-6 show the securing member 60 attached tothe secondary release 50 when the secondary coupling member 30 isconnected to the main body 40. FIG. 7 shows the securing member 60 afterthe secondary release 50 has been activated and the secondary release 50is no longer connected or attached to the second coupling member 30.However, the secondary release 50 is still attached to the main body 40even when the secondary release 50 is not connected or attached to thesecond coupling member 30. As such, the secondary release 50 will not belost as it is connected to the main body 40.

Having thus described the invention in connection with the embodimentsthereof, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that variousrevisions can be made to the embodiments described herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is myintention, however, that all such revisions and modifications that areevident to those skilled in the art will be included with in the scopeof the following claims. Any elements of any embodiments disclosedherein can be used in combination with any elements of other embodimentsdisclosed herein in any manner to create different embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dock line system for a vessel, comprising: afirst coupling member; a main body; the main body having a ratchetingsystem; the first coupling member selectively attached to the ratchetingsystem; a primary release; wherein the primary release can be operatedto release the first coupling member from the ratcheting system; asecond coupling member; the second coupling member selectively attachedto the main body; a secondary release attached to the main body; whereinthe secondary release can be removed thereby separating the secondcoupling member from the main body.
 2. The dock line system of claim 1,wherein: the secondary release has a first end and a second end.
 3. Thedock line system of claim 2, wherein: a first connecting member isconnected to the first end.
 4. The dock line system of claim 3, wherein:a second connecting member is connected to the second end.
 5. The dockline system of claim 4, wherein: the first end is configured to bemanipulated by a user pulling the first end; the manipulation of thefirst end releases the second connecting member from the second end andthereby releases the second coupling member from the main body.
 6. Thedock line system of claim 5, wherein: the first coupling member is arope.
 7. The dock line system of claim 5, wherein: the second couplingmember is a rope.
 8. The dock line system of claim 5, wherein: at leastone clamp is attached to the first coupling member; the at least oneclamp is configured to allow the first coupling member to form a loop.9. The dock line system of claim 8, wherein: at least one clamp isattached to the second coupling member; the at least one claim isconfigured to allow the second coupling member to form a loop.
 10. Thedock line system of claim 5; wherein: the primary release is a lever.11. The dock line system of claim 5, wherein: the secondary release is awire lock pin.
 12. A dock line system for a vessel, comprising: a firstcoupling member; a main body; the main body having a ratcheting system;the first coupling member selectively attached to the ratcheting system;a primary release; wherein the primary release can be operated torelease the first coupling member from the ratcheting system; a secondcoupling member; the second coupling member selectively attached to themain body; a secondary release attached to the main body; wherein thesecondary release can be removed thereby separating the second couplingmember from the main body; the main body is connected to the secondaryrelease via a securing member; wherein the securing member remainsattached to the secondary release after the second coupling member hasbeen separated from the main body.
 13. The dock line system of claim 12,wherein: the secondary release has a first end and a second end.
 14. Thedock line system of claim 13, wherein: a first connecting member isconnected to the first end.
 15. The dock line system of claim 14,wherein: a second connecting member is connected to the second end. 16.The dock line system of claim 15, wherein: the first end is configuredto be manipulated by a user pulling the first end; the manipulation ofthe first end releases the second connecting member from the second endand thereby releases the second coupling member from the main body. 17.The dock line system of claim 16, wherein: the first coupling member isa rope.
 18. The dock line system of claim 16, wherein: the secondcoupling member is a rope.
 19. The dock line system of claim 16,wherein: at least one clamp is attached to the first coupling member;the at least one clamp is configured to allow the first coupling memberto form a loop.
 20. The dock line system of claim 16, wherein: at leastone clamp is attached to the second coupling member; the at least oneclaim is configured to allow the second coupling member to form a loop.